TBT: We had a mild scare a month ago. I'm mentioning it now because Freaky Friday seems appropriate and I needed a while to make sure Iza was OK. She is.
Iza recently discovered that the cat food cans, even when rinsed, held some licks of food. She learned to pull a few cans out of the recycling pail I keep in the kitchen closet. She doesn't get anything from them (all rinsed mostly clean) but there is enough of a smell to interest her.
Iza gets all the food she can keep down. Her weight is above what it should be. The Mews get fed 6 small meals per day because Iza can't keep down a normal meal volume. The vet can't find a problem and she has even been x-rayed to look for tummy blockages.
Given enough food, she will simply eat until she throws up and then ask for more. So I am constantly feeding her as much as she can eat without her "returning" it. Marley and Ayla have adjusted to Iza's schedule. So far, so good.
Recently, I baked chicken in the oven. I use aluminum foil to keep the pan clean and allow for potato and onion slices to soak up the chicken fat below the rack. I ball up the aluminum foil and throw it in the recycling bin.
Iza discovered the chicken fat coated ball of aluminum foil while checking out the cans one night. That night, she chewed her way into the slight amount of fat left on the foil. I took it away from her of course, and tossed the foil into the covered garbage can.
What I did not realize was that she had chewed the foil ball a while. The next morning she horked a bit. That's not unusual for her. Some cats have various problems, and that is hers. It's routine.
But this time, there was bits of foil in it! 6 piles of it! She had been eating the foil to get at the chicken fat!
I watched her carefully all day and she seemed fine (and is). I broke apart her poops with nails and latex gloves and examined the parts with a magnifying glass. No foil no blood. I was ready to bring her to the vet on a moments notice and had the location of the 24/7 vet clinic in my wallet.
Apparently, I have to keep the kitchen pantry door closed, but it doesn't close right. Another home project... I think the recycling bucket has to be changed to one with a lid.
The good news is that Iza seems to be eating more normally ever since. Go figure...
Freaky...
